As his famed family approaches its first century anniversary of winemaking, third-generation member Carlo Mondavi is charting a new direction for the business into beauty.
While remaining true to his California Napa Valley roots, the 26-year-old Mondavi, grandson of Robert Mondavi, is taking the health benefits of wine and translating them into a luxury, antiaging skin care line, called Davi, using antioxidants found in grape seed oil and fermented grape extracts. “I’ve always known about the health benefits,” said the young Mondavi, chairman and founder of the Napa-based Davi. “I realized that we can use the heart of the wine for something, especially after seeing the data that showed the antioxidant benefits grapes had on the skin.”
Carlo had a vision of creating an all-natural grape-based skin care line two years ago. Research from University of California-Davis confirmed the antioxidant health benefits of fermented grape extracts, grape itself and pomace, a byproduct of grape skins and seeds that results from the winemaking process during fermentation.
In conjunction with a French lab in Lyon, Davi developed an antiaging antioxidant complex in a microencapsulated form called meritage, which preserves the formula to provide longer-lasting benefits. This mixture of high-level antioxidants is made up of ingredients including grape leaf, fermented wine extracts, grape, green tea, bilberry, black currant oils, olive, raspberry, rosemary and soybean.
“The microencapsulated formula allows us to preserve the shelf life of the product until the moment you apply it to the skin and offers up to nine hours of therapeutic relief,” said Josh LeVine, co-founder, executive vice president and creative director of Davi.
The line will be launched in October exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman, and it is designed for use by both men and women. The centerpiece of the Davi line, the antiaging face cream dubbed Le Grand Cru, is derived from grand cru, or “great growth” — a term bestowed on the top vineyards in France. Both the men’s and women’s face creams are formulated with shea butter, rosemary, green tea, grape extracts and vitamin E, in addition to the meritage complex. The men’s cream also contains free radical antioxidants such as ginseng, witch hazel and allantoin, a botanical extract from the comfrey plant, known for its toning and astringent benefits. Both lines contain a cream, a daily lotion with an SPF 30 and a cleanser. However, the women’s line offers a toner while the men’s range contains a shaving and aftershave cream. Products range from $25 for Reserve Shave Cream to $175 for Le Grand Cru cream.
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Although company executives declined to provide projections, industry sources estimate that Davi’s nine new products will generate between $3 million and $5 million in first-year retail sales.
As an allusion to the Mondavi family’s vineyard roots, the men’s line is packaged in a deep burgundy, while the women’s products feature a jade design, evoking the fresh youthfulness of green grapes.
When the fledgling beauty offshoot was formed two years ago, the partners reached out for some seasoned cosmetics industry management and brought Joe Spellman on board. He already has big plans. “Mondavi is dedicated to wine and has ties to the family legacy, and we’re planning on turning it into a luxury lifestyle brand, with skin care being just one part of the business,” said Spellman, who joined Davi over a year ago as the company’s president. Spellman is continuing in his regular duties as strategic marketing consultant for Estée Lauder Cos. “The brand will have a sense of youthfulness and be fun, but with a sense of that ‘California attitude.'”
According to Ed Burstell, senior vice president and general merchandise manager of beauty, footwear and accessories at Bergdorf Goodman, the collection has a lot of potential and opportunity for growth as it not only targets the women’s market, but also the men’s, a “market that is sometimes ignored when it comes to luxury skin care.”
“This is a company that understands luxury,” said Burstell, who notes the company’s history of producing high-quality wine for a century. “They’re able to provide a level of beneficial antioxidant treatment from using grapes.”
Next spring, the company plans to open two destination spas — one in New York and the other in Napa Valley. To coincide with the spa openings, Davi will launch a full body range. By the end of next year, the company also plans to introduce an eye gel designed as “an evening-after hangover cure,” as well as facial scrubs and masks.
The Bergdorf Goodman exclusive is meant to last one year; then the company plans to expand into other specialty retailers as well as spas. The company is also in discussions about distributing its products through amenity programs in hotels and will be sold online on davi.com. By end of next year, the brand will be sold internationally in three countries.
Davi’s print advertising campaign will break in about six men’s and women’s luxury magazines. The company also has plans to launch an infomercial that will premiere early next year. A sampling program distributing over 100,000 samples will also be set in motion.